


and it ain't no accident

by andathousandyearsmore



Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel, Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies), Thor (Movies)
Genre: A Case of Feels, Friends to Lovers, Galas, M/M, Magic, Obliviousness, Parties, Steve Rogers and The Colour Red
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-04
Updated: 2019-05-04
Packaged: 2020-01-04 13:12:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,390
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18344375
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/andathousandyearsmore/pseuds/andathousandyearsmore
Summary: Steve isn't such a hopeless case after all.





	and it ain't no accident

**Author's Note:**

> this was supposed to be a ficlet and somehow i turned it into this
> 
> sorry not sorry ;)

There were cufflinks waiting for him on his nightstand. They were small little replicas of his shield, but in the colors of green and silver, instead of the traditional colors of his shield. Steve stared at them curiously, admiring the craftsmanship and the beautiful attention to detail on them. They looked completely lifelike, like usable versions that had the same sheen to them as vibranium did.

He picked one up, almost dropping it in surprise when the colors instantly changed from silver and green to his red, white, and blue. Now this; this looked perfectly like a shrunken version of his shield, and if he almost wanted to throw it to see if it would work. But he didn't, and instead flipped it over, admiring the polished back and fastener the same. The front of the cuff link pressed up against the tip of his fingers and he could feel the subtly small engravings in them. So he picked up the other one, and watched in fascination as the colors changed again.

Steve smiled and carefully added them to his suit, noticing how well they suited it. The artist in him couldn't help but approve.

Pausing to fix the rest of his appearance, he wondered if the giver of this particular gift would show up to tonight's charity auction gala. Steve hoped so; if only because he wanted someone else there that would make the entire thing sufferable. He loved his fellow Avengers, he really did, but he knew they all had a bet to see how well or not he would take to a social situation like this. After last time's disaster, where he had ducked out earlier (three hours earlier) citing work, he had gotten flak for it like nothing else. So they wouldn't be helping him this time.

Especially not here. Especially not tonight, where all the Avengers were on auction for a night for the Maria Stark Foundation.

Well, Steve wasn't about to back away from a challenge. He could charm and schmooze people if he wanted to. He could be the best arm candy out there if he wanted to. It was just that it was awful having to do so, especially when it was part of his job as Captain America. Even if he had to do it a hell of a lot more during the war, trying to get everyone and their neighbors to donate to the war effort, there were _other_ soul-sucking charms he had to use this century.

He also knew they had a bet about who was going to bring in the most money. Tony had said it was going to be Thor. Clint said it was going to be him, because 'Cap's got that golden boy, 1940s relic thing going for him.' Steve wanted Tony to lose, at this moment, because last week Tony had left him all alone with a street full of reporters. Which meant Clint had to win. Which meant Steve was going to look pretty damn fantastic. 

"JARVIS?" Steve asked the AI carefully. "Could you call Loki for me?" 

A second later, and Loki, in his own fine suit that made Steve do a few double takes, appeared right next to him. God, Loki was in a deep red suit that hugged him in places that Steve was definitely appreciative of, black shoes, a black tie, a white shirt, and miniature cufflinks that resembled a horned helmet. Steve wasn't going to ask. 

"These are beautiful," Steve told him, adjusting his sleeves in the mirror and moving over a little to share it with Loki, if he wanted. "I don't know what you did to make them perfect miniature replicas, but I can't even imagine it." 

Loki smiled—Steve thinks Loki's smiles are some the most beautiful things ever, even when they're so incredibly rare, which is a damn shame—at him through the mirror and shrugged it off. "They were but a few simple spells." 

"A few simple spells more than what anyone else can do, and pretty damn incredible," Steve muttered, looking up and at himself, critiquing for anything out of place or strange. He sees Loki doing the same thing, though Loki fixes them with magic, not physically hands. It's beautiful though, to watch his hands move fluidly and precisely. 

"Your movements are much too obsessive," Loki said after one long minute of both of them silently moving around. "Stop." 

Steve stopped, and then took a breath. Right. This wasn't back in the '40s, where everything depended on him looking perfect. This was now, where he already had everything established for him. Steve could relax. Steve was taking it too far, for some reason, obsessively fixating on his appearance. Okay. 

"How do you plan on arriving?" Loki suddenly asked again, after Steve turned away from the mirror and then shut the door of his microwave, which was one for some other reason. When had that even happened? Why was he a mess?

"Bike? Probably my bike. It's easier with my bike," he responded, staring at Loki, who seemed to have something else on the tip of his tongue, but bit it back. Well, that wasn't the only reason he was staring and stammering his words out. Oops.

"Have you ever wanted to teleport?" Loki finally asked, after Steve just kept on staring. Thankfully, he must have taken it as a glare to keep talking. Not because Steve was casually staring at his jawline, or his—Steve had to stop. 

"No," he said, because who _has_? Teleporting involved magic, and magic wasn't really a thing on Earth (well, too much of an occurrence). "Are you offering?" 

"Merely because it's more efficient than a motorcycle," Loki said, causing Steve to stare at him incredulously. This again?

Steve just didn't understand why Loki seemed to have something personal against his motorcycle. Motorcycles were thrills, and were perfect for random drives and feeling the open air at two in the morning or afternoon. Motorcycles were also a comfortingly familiarity from back then, and they were also something he understood easily. These he could fix and upgrade and work on, unlike complicated cars. 

"Oh, would you look at that, I think I just changed my mind," Steve dryly said, biting back a smile at Loki's expression. "Nothing like the feeling of a ride." He fully expected Loki to respond in a way that would re-open their old, rehashed argument. 

"I would make it good for you," Loki winked instead. Steve's brain shut down for a temporary second. "And if you really want to be riding something..."

Jeez, what it Steve supposed to say to that? No one should fault him for blanking to that. Damn Loki for playing dirty. Usually Loki had a tendency to wait a few minutes before laying on the innuendoes. Oh, fucking god. 

"See, with a line like that, a guy can't help but wonder what you really want." It was an awful response, but his brain was desperately trying to reboot itself. 

"Haven't I made it very obvious? Your bike is a miserable companion. Swap for something better."

"I don't see anything better near me," Steve responded. "But bad ideas have always been something I'm good at." 

The next thing Steve knew, he was at the entrance of the auction with Loki, who was smirking as he saw Steve's surprised face. Wow. That hadn't felt like anything at all. 

"That didn't feel like anything at all," Steve said. "Is this what everyone says to you after?" 

Loki's eyes darkened just slightly, and Steve could have sworn he leaned in just a little more as he said, "Be brave enough, captain, you should find out one of these days." 

In classic Loki fashion, he disappeared right after that, leaving Steve alone at the entrance. 

* * *

The auction, unsurprisingly, happened during the middle of the event. He, unsurprisingly, did bring in the most money, thanks to some aggressive bidding from an extremely wealthy businesswoman, a male actor from that show that Darcy liked, and the wealthy heiress that he was pretty sure Tony had been talking about earlier. Unsurpringly, the wealthy heiress won, and Steve had to force himself not to smile in disappointment that the intriguing male actor hadn't won. He, also unsurprisingly, wanted the ground to swallow him up whole after talking to some of the guests here. The Avengers, unsurprisingly, were stunned. 

But, façade or not, schmoozing or not, all Steve wanted to do was escape and talk to Loki. He wanted to get back at Loki for earlier. Actually, mainly, he wanted an explanation for why he occasionally caught Loki staring at him with an amused look or one that was just... blank. What was it? 

He was going to find out, though, especially when he felt something appear in his suit pocket. The inside one, and there was no one around him that could have slipped it in without him noticing unless they had magic (Loki). Pulling it out, he noticed it was a cream-colored business card, made of expensive paper and more expensive embossing. On it were two words, scripted in silver: _having fun_? On the back was just an elaborate L, as if Steve hadn't known where the card came from. 

Steve snapped his attention back to his current conversation partner, a socialite that was famous for the sake of being famous. They were telling a miserable story, something about a horrible, traumatic experience they had gone through. They didn't seem to notice that Steve had stopped paying attention at the terrible story. Steve knew it wasn't fair to belittle others on their pain or rank traumas based on his or anyone else's, but really, was it actually PTSD if they were nipped by their neighbor's startled dog?

"It must be nice, never scarring anymore," they were saying, and god, now Steve really had to leave. He kept on a politely entertained face, for appearances, and then made a hasty excuse (something about grabbing a glass of something?) at the right moment. God, he felt rude for saying so, but they were not clicking with him. 

He drifted into the crowd, pretending to wander a little before making his way over to Loki, glass of useless champagne in hand. Loki was still smirking, eyes filled with telltale mischief that really emphasized who he was. Steve didn't know if he liked it because of what it meant, or if he hated it because it was all fake, and all of the people.

He pressed the card into Loki's hand. "Show-off. What, trying to impress me?" Steve let himself smirk just a little, have some fun, but not too much that he desperately wanted to stay by Loki's side. 

Loki grinned in response, easy as ever. "Why would you think I would be wasting my valuable time _impressing_ you? Certainly if I wanted to, I'd be going about it much more differently."

Steve didn't say how Loki really didn't need to. Instead, he responded, "Than magic tricks?"

"Here I thought you liked my little tricks," Loki said, eyes lighting up in a mischievous gleam that Steve had seen Loki use on Thor countless times before. Usually Thor tripped up his words whenever those occasions arose, trying to prove to Loki that he really did love his brother so. 

He wasn't going to make those same mistakes. "Considering I'm banned from calling them cute, I don't know." 

"Captain Rogers! Captain Rogers. Loki," a young female voice clamored, drawing their attention as she walked up to them with a bright smile on her face. She seemed so earnest and peppy and immediately Steve's night lightened, though his defenses remained exactly where they were. "Can I talk to you about your involvement in Make A Wish?" she asked him, and then turned to Loki. "May I borrow him for a few? I know you don't like being interviewed at all, and as much as I'd love to ask about teleportation, it wouldn't be nice, so can I borrow his attention?" 

Loki blinked, and Steve bit back a laugh at the dumbfounded expression on his face. Loki looked to him for an answer, and Steve, since he didn't want to pass up this opportunity, merely shrugged and gave the woman an easy smile. "Up to him." 

"What do you want to know about teleportation?" Loki asked instead, his voice a little less assured than it normally is, and oh, Loki's probably stunned than someone would even think of asking him on something that wasn't related to Thor, or the Chiatauri, or his entire villainy thing. 

"You're not serious," the woman says, her voice also faint, like she might faint of surprise and happiness. "You-you're not serious, oh my god." 

Steve decided to save her. "For once in the time I've known him, he is. I'd take the chance, if I were you," he winked, causing her to blush a little and causing Loki to glare at him for the comment. And then he left the two of them to it, smiling and feeling a little pang of jealousy as he saw Loki animatedly explain teleportation to her as he looked back. 

* * *

He was lying to himself. He couldn't do it. He couldn't do this. 

Pretending like he didn't want to spend the rest of his night with Loki was something he had thought he could do. Pretending like he was fine walking away first, and ignoring the god seemed like a good plan. Pretending that he wasn't staring at Loki every subtle chance he got—there weren't too many of them—was too big of a lie.

That goddamned suit. It was a deep red, deeper than the red of his shield or the red of Peggy's lips or the red of blood and anger and maybe even love. The red enveloped Loki like it was his color, surrounding him like a cloud of mystery that Steve wanted to capture on paper. It fit Loki like a glove, probably tailored by magic, but Steve was never so much more grateful and miserable for it. Loki most likely knew how good he looked in it, because why would he not, but Steve didn't ever want Loki to find out just how insanely attractive he was to Steve, especially in that. 

Oh, and did Steve ever have a type: tall, dark, and ultra-competent, accented people in sharp clothes. Apparently in red clothes, if Peggy's red dress and Loki's red suit were ever any indication. It really wasn't fair that he kept falling into people who were too far out of his league that he wondered sometimes if they were even playing the same sport. 

Except... Loki had said something, hadn't he? Something about being brave enough. And that, that seemed almost like—

He didn't know how exactly Loki had known or had such perfect timing, but it seems like the god decided to pick right now to teleport right next to Steve. Just as he was figuring this out. 

"You seem in need of company."

"Do I?" Steve merely asked, trying to keep himself from being over-eager.

Loki's eyes flashed in interest, mainly because Steve was horrible at keeping a straight face good enough to deceive people like Natasha and Loki. "You've retreated into the corner. Must be lonesome."

"Not unless I wish the company of no one," he said.

"Ah," Loki said, sounding maybe a little... hurt? "Then I shall..." 

"Only because," Steve hastily added on, before Loki could leave and he'd probably chicken out. "I wanted to think in relative peace. But now I think I've figured something out."

Loki raised a perfectly-groomed eyebrow as a smirk appeared on his face, clearly ready to humor Steve. "Have you?"

Steve looked around at the party that was happening in front of them, and then the way that no one seemed to be paying attention to them. Or even aware that they were here. A privacy spell of sorts? Well, that was good. 

* * *

 

"We should, we should do this again," Steve said, the first words either of them had spoken in the morning when they woke up tangled in Steve's bedroom sheets. So far, they had managed to both at least tug on underwear and use the bathroom. And that was pretty much it. So he purposefully ha look away from Loki when he said that. 

"That seems like it might be a bad idea," Loki responded a little too bitterly for it to be a joke. Something was bothering Loki then. But what? It couldn't be Steve himself, because Loki would have teleported out of here.

"People say I'm full of those," Steve said, staring at the clock that seemed to gleefully tell him that it was nearing ten o'clock. Which meant he had woken up at around 9:30 and also around four or five hours later than he normally did. Traitor. 

Loki raised an eyebrow, stiffening a little. "A disastrously bad id—" Loki started to say, before realizing who he was talking to. When he trailed off, Steve merely smirked. 

"Yeah, in case you haven't noticed, I'm still full of those. But if you want this to be a one-time thing, whatever, fine," Steve said a little too quickly, something clicking in his head about Loki worrying about things like Steve automatically assuming commitment or something. Even though Steve knew he would have loved something more, he wasn't going to push it. That was an asshole move. Right? 

Loki blinked, and then nodded. Within a second, his clothes disappeared from the floor and he teleported elsewhere. Steve was now alone, and he had a feeling last night had messed up something else. God, fuck. 

* * *

 

"No," said the voice behind him, and Steve almost jumped at the random interruption.

"Loki!" Steve said, surprised at the god's appearance, especially since it had been an entire week, day, and eight hours since Steve had seen him last. Give or take a few minutes. It wasn't as if Steve was keeping count or anything. "What the fuck?"

"I've been yelled at," Loki slowly said, as if he was considering his words. Steve wanted to ask what this had to do with him, but Loki beat him to it. "By your Avengers. They say you've been moping and that this is caused by me vanishing."

Steve made a mental note to yell at Tony and Natasha. And then he groaned in a little embarrassment.

"Okay..." Steve promoted, closing his book and making sure the little bookmark (Steve had managed to teach DUM-E to use a a crayon and now this colored piece of paper was something Steve would cherish) stayed in place.

"I hadn't," Loki said, and Steve was confused agains as to what Loki meant. "But you must realize that I'm not... a hero, right? Good? Brave? Courageous or any of that? Just the opposite."

"Apparently you're a damn liar," Steve responded, deciding to roll with it since he didn't know what was happening. "Or mistaken because you are all of those."

"No, I'm not, and maybe you've grown a little soft because you think that you can save me or fix me with your friendship or something, but..."

Steve almost rose to the bait. "Stop. Just stop. What the hell are you doing? Are you trying to convince me to stop bein' friends or something with you?"

Loki gave him a pitying look and almost looked like he was exasperated. Well, he also had the whole 'I'm a villain, fear me,' look on right now, but Steve knew Loki well enough. 

"Or maybe... is this, are you trying to convince me to keep last week as a one time thing and nothing more because you're apparently some kind of monster I don't deserve to supposedly be burdened with?" Steve guessed, pulling it all out of his ass and knowing he hit the mark when Loki's eyes widened almost imperceptibly. 

Loki said nothing. 

"You're ridiculous. Say something, do something, at least blink for me, okay?" Steve asked when Loki was doing his best imitation of a glaring statue. "Alright, if you're not going to move, I'm going to do this, then."

Steve got up and walked over to Loki. And then he kissed him. 

* * *

 

Steve smiled to himself as he woke up, being almost aggressively cuddled by Loki. 

 

 

 


End file.
